Optimising Learning of Multiplication and Division Facts in Schoolchildren

Good mathematical skills are associated with higher rates of employment, increased income, and better quality of life. However, many individuals fail to achieve adequate mathematical skills. Remedying this is a priority for researchers, educators and government. An important characteristic of individuals with good mathematics achievement is fluent access to stored number facts: children with poorer overall mathematics achievement are less likely to retrieve answers to simple arithmetic problems. Helping children to improve number fact knowledge may therefore contribute to overall improvements in mathematical achievement. However, we don't yet know enough about how to support children's number fact knowledge, in particular the learning of multiplication facts. This project aims to improve our understanding of multiplication fact learning through developing theoretical models of multiplication fact knowledge and testing the predictions of these models, to examine how learning rates of multiplication facts might be increased.
The research questions are:
1. Do children's errors when learning times tables reflect interference from related problems?
2. Do separate representations exist for a) commuted pairs and b) multiplication and division facts?
3. How should problems be sequenced to increase learning rates by maximising cognitive control mechanisms?
We will address these questions in collaboration with Times Tables Rock Stars, an online learning resource used by millions of children worldwide to support multiplication fact learning. Times Tables Rock Stars incorporates game-play features to maximize children's engagement and increase learning.
In Year 1 we will analyse anonymized data from the existing Times Tables Rock Stars platform to test assumptions of theoretical models of multiplication fact learning. In Years 2 to 3 we will test predictions from the model concerning how to increase learning rates. With technical support from Times Tables Rock Stars, we will observe the impact of modifying sequences of practice problems across a series of studies. This project will lead to both advances in theory and direct impact on children's learning.